Rotor
Multi Tower - reuse of building materials
In September 2016, Rotor was invited by Conix RDBM and Whitewood to collaborate on the Multi-project, the refurbishment of the iconic Philip Tower at De Brouckère Square.
The Philip Tower dates back to the 1960s. It is widely known for the radical changes it made to the Brussels urban fabric and has been the subject of debate ever since. To this day, some people are suggesting changing the tower's appearance drastically or even razing it to the ground. But in doing so, they would be making the same mistake as the builders: not recognising the quality of what already exists.
Unlike other conversions of modernist towers in Brussels (the Astrotower, the Zuidertoren/Tour du Midi, the Financietoren, etc.), where the original materiality disappeared completely, the project to reconvert the Philipstoren aims to reconcile the building with the city.
In the 1960s, the architects of the tower, Groupe Structure, chose structural steel elements, lifts, cladding, etc. produced by local companies. In this way, they wanted to support the local economy.
What is their equivalent today? Brussels has played a leading role in the development of the circular economy in recent years. The Multi-project wants to be an extra stimulus for these activities. Therefore, an ambition level has been set for the integration of re-used elements: the goal is that at least 2% of the components installed in the project are re-used components (percentage in value and in weight). These components can originate from the Philipstoren itself or from the stock of various reuse dealers in Belgium and abroad. 2% is a simple goal for small projects, but here it is really an ambitious challenge.
Rotor assists Conix RDBM and Whitewood during the design and construction phase to make the integration of reused elements possible. To make the goal of 2% feasible, Rotor is looking for candidate materials. Given the size of the project, materials must be available in sufficient quantities on the reuse market. Equally important is the search for materials that have the potential to contribute to the architectural quality of the Multi Tower. In this way, the new tower hopes to be able to give a second life to materials from similar buildings in Brussels that are currently being redeveloped, collected and prepared for reuse by sister company Rotor DC.
